Big East tourney is here, but Bulls get to wait

Greetings from Madison Square Garden, where the tournament starts in just an hour with Connecticut-DePaul, but as wild as it sounds, it's another 34 hours before USF will take the court here in Manhattan.

We're only a few years removed from USF not being able to make it to the Big East tournament at all, but now you have the Bulls with the No. 6 seed, earning a day off and feeling disappointed not to have a second day as spectators. Having the bye and the latest slot in the Big East lineup will help the Bulls, if only in extending the perception of their survival here -- if USF wins Wednesday night against the winner of tonight's Rutgers-Villanova game, there will be 11 Big East teams eliminated by the time the Bulls face third-seeded Notre Dame on Thursday night.

So barring a major upset, that single Bulls win would be all it would take for USF to outlast its fellow Big East bubble teams -- either UConn or West Virginia will be gone by 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, and Seton Hall, if it survives today vs. Providence, would have to knock off Louisville to stick around for USF's first game Thursday night.

We'll have updates from here throughout today's games -- USF's players will be attending the evening session, with a practice here in the city this afternoon. We'll keep an eye on bubble implications from around the country as well -- lots to follow, long before the Bulls take the court.

About the blog

South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Joey Knight, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area. Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.